You know you're tired when...

You wake up two hours after your alarm was supposed to wake you up and have no memory of turning it off. It happened to me this morning. I was planning on getting up at 4:30 a.m., but woke up at 6:30 a.m..I checked my alarm when I woke up and it was set to go off, so evidently I just turned it off and rolled over without even knowing. Oh well, things happen.

Luckily the weather is super fantastic!!! It was 38 degrees with clear sky and full sun. There was just a gentle breeze. Perfect weather for a long run!

I set out for my planned 14 miles with not many expectations. I figured since I was tired enough to sleep through my alarm that I shouldn't expect much energy for the run. It was another long run were my mind was thinking by mile three that maybe I should pull the plug and go home and sleep. My legs felt heavy and doubt crept in. I glanced at Garmin to see how much the run sucked and was shocked that I was running a 8:25 pace. No wonder my legs felt tired. Aren't I supposed to be running long, SLOW, distance?

I just plugged along, knowing that I was going faster than it seemed, so that I could get the run in. I figured that I might bonk later on in the run, but a bonk is also a good training device in a cruel kind of way. I was running down the multi-use path and noticed a powerful stench. It was the stench of rotten flesh. I looked around and notice that about 10 feet off into the weeds there was a deer carcass. By the strength of the stench it must have been there about 3 or 4 days. It took a while to get that smell out of my nose.

My pace began to slow, but I took a gel at about mile 6 because I knew that at my turn around point there were trash receptacles for me to throw the packaging away. I've been using PowerGel tangerine flavor with caffiene. It doesn't seem to upset my stomach. I only take one since I don't believe gels are the best way to fuel. I also took half a peanut butter and Nutella sandwich for later on in the run. I really don't need to fuel for the distance I'm running, but I need to figure out how to fuel for marathons and ultras so this is all part of training.

My pace was going up and down until mile 10. The last miles became a progression run again. I thought I was slowing, and notice my footstrike was a little off so I concentrated on form and just plugged along. The last miles splits were: 8:45, 8:40, 8:38, 8:34, 8:33. I couldn't believe that my long run had turned out so well. I finished the run feeling really well. I'll give the credit to the extra accidental sleep and the super fantastic weather. If ever you could dream of long run weather, today's is what I'd dream of.

I ran 14.16 miles today in 2:02:02. What a cool overall time. Perfect symmetry!

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